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Arkansas ex-treasurer due in court on new charges

FILE - In this file photo made June 27, 2013, former Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner walks from the Little Rock, Ark., Federal Courthouse after she pleaded not guilty to charges she steered state investments to a bond broker who paid her. In a motion filed Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, Shoffner asked for a separate trial on new charges accusing her of improper spending from her campaign account.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An arraignment is scheduled for former Arkansas treasurer Martha Shoffner on charges that she misspent thousands of dollars in campaign money on personal items.

Shoffner is already set to go to trial next week on federal extortion and bribery charges. Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Shoffner on 10 counts of mail fraud, accusing her of using $9,800 of campaign funds to make payments to a credit card that had been used to buy items including clothing and cosmetics.

Shoffner is due in federal court Thursday for an arraignment on the new mail fraud charges. Her defense attorneys have filed a motion asking that the charges be dismissed.